When Xiao He saw his own Shen Jue disguised as himself in the mirror again, he felt more sentimental than nostalgic.
The person in the mirror wore a simple linen shirt and had their hair tied up with just a chopstick. Loose strands of hair were casually tucked behind their ears. The sleeves of their clothes were rolled up high because they often worked. A not-so-clean towel hung from the cloth belt around their waist, and they wore a pair of plain cloth shoes.
Apart from his face, which was still trying to look presentable, his overall appearance was very ordinary, just like an ordinary innkeeper's waiter.
Xiao He turned around, looked at the person in the mirror, took a deep breath, and then slowly closed his eyes.
When he opened his eyes again, his gaze suddenly sharpened, but his overall demeanor became even more reserved.
His gaze swept over the cutting board and props beside him, and he calmly reached out his hand, then clenched it tightly—
The next moment, Shen Jue, an ordinary waiter at Penglai Inn, walked out of the dressing room.
The others who were waiting in the hall heard the noise and looked over.
The person in the middle jumped down from the table and walked happily toward Xiao He: "Shen Jue, long time no see."
"Um."
Xiao He had completely gotten into character. When he saw the tall and straight Jiang Rushuai in front of him, a smile flashed across his eyes, but overall he still maintained a cold and aloof expression, giving a barely perceptible nod.
"Alright, everyone get ready."
Lin Yipeng clapped his hands and looked at the others on set, "Let's hurry up and finish filming the rest of the scenes here as soon as possible so we can head out to film the outdoor scenes."
"good!"
Everyone responded and quickly began preparations.
Xiao He keenly noticed that many of the staff members in this production crew looked more professional and older than the small team that Lin Yipeng had assembled herself, and they were also very efficient in their work.
It's likely that a large portion of them came from Lin Yipeng's father's team and are now officially working with Lin Yipeng on the film set.
That's good. The filming of "The Thief 2" should be more efficient and easier in the future.
So, during the break between filming, Xiao He began to review the script for "The Thief 2".
The script for "The Thieves 2" connects to the timeline of the first film, telling a new story and adventure. So, in general, even if you haven't seen the first film, watching "The Thieves 2" directly won't have any impact and won't hinder your understanding of the story.
At the end of the first part of the story, Jiang Rushuai bids farewell to his friend Shen Jue and continues to take on various capture missions as a thief catcher, embarking once again on a life of chivalry in the martial arts world...
That day, Jiang Rushuai, who had just rested in a small town in the southwest, received a letter from a friend far away. However, he discovered that the letter was more than a month old, and the contents of the letter seemed to have been replaced. It seemed that someone wanted to use Shen Jue's name to lure him to the northwest.
However, Shen Jue always preferred quiet and rarely went out. After retiring from the martial world, he would only stay in the inn. The only friend he needed to visit in the martial world was Jiang Rushuai. But Jiang Rushuai was always carefree and did whatever he wanted. He could endure wind and rain and live a nomadic life in order to capture criminals. So it was always Jiang Rushuai who went to Penglai Inn to find Shen Jue.
Therefore, unless there is a necessary reason, Shen Jue will definitely not leave the inn. The last time he went to Jiangnan was to help Jiang Rushuai.
Therefore, this unexpected letter aroused many doubts in Jiang Rushuai's mind.
What also caught his attention was that there was a copper coin in the envelope.
After confirming the situation with the messenger, Jiang Rushuai looked at the letter that he had received more than a month late. After thinking for a moment, he decided not to go to the Northwest first, but to go directly back to Penglai Inn to confirm the situation.
Unfortunately, Jiang Rushuai was too late.
He traveled day and night, riding his horse back to Penglai Inn, only to find that the inn had been burned down, and the innkeeper and Shen Jue were nowhere to be found.
The inn was also full of other people's corpses!
Through Jiang Rushuai's meticulous excavation and investigation, he discovered that the identities of these corpses were extraordinary—
The remaining physical characteristics of these corpses clearly bear the hallmarks of Northwest Army soldiers.
And this coincides perfectly with the contents of the letter he received!
All the evidence points to the Northwest!
What exactly happened? Why was Penglai Inn destroyed? Where did Shen Jue and the landlady go?
With these questions in mind, Jiang Rushuai embarked on his journey to the Northwest.
-
"Shen Jue, are you ready?"
Lin Yipeng raised the megaphone and called out to Xiao He, who was reading the script.
"Yes, I'm fine."
Xiao He put down the script and stood up, while Pu Rong went to the other side to wait.
What they are filming now is the scene where Penglai Inn is besieged, and Shen Jue leads the landlady to fight their way out. This scene is not filmed with Pu Rong. Pu Rong is waiting to film the scene where a big fire burns the site to ruins.
So Pu Rong's visit this time was essentially to pick up Xiao He, and incidentally to watch the scene.
Xiao He and a few martial arts actors briefly discussed the upcoming action sequences, then turned and headed towards the kitchen to prepare for the scene to begin.
Soon, the previously noisy scene gradually quieted down, with only Lin Yipeng's loudspeaker continuing to announce: "Alright, all departments, prepare—"
"Shen Jue, scene 001—"
"three--"
"two--"
"one--"
The quiet inn suddenly became lively.
Rough men, shirtless, played drinking games, the clatter of bowls mingling with their shouts, the aroma of wine mixed with the scent of braised meat, all lingering in the air above the inn. People also passed by on the second-floor corridors on either side of the inn, each carrying different weapons and dressed in different clothes, yet their steps were steady and uniform, a chaotic yet orderly display of discipline.
"Waiter, another bowl, please!"
The man sitting in the middle downed the wine on the table in one gulp, then wiped the wine off his mouth and loudly ordered the inn's servants around.
The young man, who was both a waiter and a cook, lifted the curtain of the kitchen and walked out steadily with a steaming plate of food. Ignoring the subtle gazes around him, he calmly walked up to the man and put down the braised meat and peanuts in his hand.
At another table, several people were eating peanuts while watching the young man in front of them. Even in a corner on the second floor, someone had drawn a weapon and was waiting for instructions from behind the scenes.
The lively atmosphere at the scene seemed to be just a deceptive illusion.
The young man's eyes were devoid of any emotion, only revealing a cold indifference. Faced with the danger around him, he calmly picked up the plate of food, walked to the counter, and gently tapped the countertop.
Behind the counter, with her back to everyone, the proprietress, who had been rapidly calculating on her abacus, stopped what she was doing.
Her bangs covered one side of her face, but her gaze was very noticeable.
"A-Jue?"
"The ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ kitchen is almost overwhelmed, you can go to the back."
Shen Jue spoke calmly, yet with an air of unquestionable authority.
The proprietress was silent for a moment, then replied with an "okay," and lifted the curtain of a small door on one side to leave.
"I'm going to drag you into this again."
The woman's voice carried a hint of melancholy.
Shen Jue didn't say anything, but turned around and walked back to the man drinking in the center of the hall.
As he moved through the crowd, a hand with distinct knuckles pulled a gleaming boning knife from under a plate.
The blade reflected a cold light, illuminating the corpse's bones and the cold glint in the man's eyes—
